At least that's the way Marsha Sawicki, a nurse, and Eric Herb, a hospital patient administrator, felt about the paper-thin dresses worn by the sick and infirm.

It is not that Sawicki and Herb expected hospital patients to cart off any best-dressed awards. They were just thinking of comfort, form and function when they developed and patented the Pocket Gown.

''We've been working on it for about five years,'' said Sawicki, who works at Lemon Bay Family Practice in Englewood. ''It cost us about $20,000 to develop.''

Sawicki claims that the striped pocket gown, unlike ordinary hospital garb, doesn't come open when the patient walks. The gown fastens at the shoulders and in the back, so it fits any size patient.

Further, the Pocket Gown's key feature -- a pocket -- provides a nifty pouch for a heart monitor or other type of device that the patient might need to carry. Also, hooks inside the gown provide the necessary foundation to which catheter bags and other devices may be fastened.

Sawicki said the gown would cost hospitals about $5 to $7 apiece, a price she said was comparable to the cost of currently used gowns. She and Herb are negotiating with manufacturers, she said.